The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) agreed to work together to make the capital Dhaka a smart city.
The development came when a delegation of the DCCI board members called on DSCC Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh at his office on Thursday.
DCCI President Md. Sameer Sattar led the trade-body delegation.
During discussion, he urged the mayor to take steps for automation of trade licence application and renewal process, including online fee submission through an integrated payment gateway.
He proposed to establish a booth at the DCCI to provide trade licence-related services on behalf of the chamber and sign a memorandum of understating (MoU) between the two organisations for this purpose.
Mr Sameer Sattar also requested the city mayor to consider issuing trade licences to the young startups, which do not have any commercial address but operate their businesses from home or online.
He called for the DSCC's special attention on reducing huge traffic congestion that heavily affects people's commuting, costs energy, and destroys important working hours.
The DSCC mayor said after effective implementation of a national payment gateway system, people would soon be able to pay trade licence fee through online.
He also proposed that a seven-daylong camp can be organised at the DCCI office, so that its members can avail the trade licence renewal facility from there.
Mr Fazle Noor Taposh said till June 2022, the DSCC earned Taka 8.79 billion without increasing any tax.
"We will make Dhaka a smart city for creating a conducive environment for facilitating business and investment," he noted.
The DSCC mayor later informed that they would take initiatives to establish an IoT-based traffic signal system in the city to reduce congestion.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com